Tactical personnel including law enforcement and military personnel have come to rely on hand-held non-lethal/lethal deployable devices (also referred to herein as “HNLDDs”) during missions such as those involving armed offenders, hostage situations, riot situations, and high-risk warrants. When used, HNLDDs emit a blaring noise usually accompanied by a temporarily blinding flash of light which surprises or stuns the intended suspects, thereby allowing their safe apprehension. The HNLDDs are usually thrown through a window or door of a crime location, such as a room in a house, to temporarily distract the occupants for a time sufficient to enable the law enforcement personnel to safely enter the location and obtain custody of the suspects. When used properly, these devices provide a significant tactical advantage in temporarily neutralizing and disorienting suspects near an initiated device while reducing the possibility of injury to tactical personnel, hostages, and suspects.
The HNLDDs are also known as one or more of diversionary devices, Noise Flash Diversionary Devices (NFDD), light-sound devices, flash/sound devices, flash/sound diversionary devices, flashbangs, distraction devices, stun and distraction devices, grenades, and sound and flash grenades to name a few. They typically include a canister, a powder charge housed inside the canister, and a fuze assembly. The fuze assembly has a number of components including a fuze lever or safety lever (also referred to as a “spoon”), a striker, a primer, a pull ring and safety pin that are clipped together, a delay element, and an ignition mixture. When used properly, upon deflagration, an HNLDD creates a loud report and a brilliant light that may disorient and confuse those who are inside the tactical environment.
Types of HNLDDs generate bright light and heat as a result of initiation of the powder charge. The flash of light, which can be at least in the range of two million to eight million candela, is bright enough to cause temporary loss of night vision even with the eyelids closed. Initiation of the HNLDD also produces a loud noise typically at least in the 170-185 decibel (dB) range (can be significantly more in military applications), which can cause injury to unprotected hearing. The HNLDDs when deflagrated also generate smoke by the rapid burning of the powder charge, which may obscure targets inside a deployment location. Furthermore, when deflagrated, the HNLDDs create a blast wave as a result of the change in atmospheric pressure that the device generates (referred to as “overpressure”).
The deflagration of an HNLDD therefore produces disorienting physiological and psychological effects for those in close proximity to the device. Consequently, when used as intended by properly trained personnel, the HNLDD reduces the risk of death and serious injury for the personnel deploying the device as well as others in the deployment area.
The dangerous effects of the HNLDD make controlled deployment of the device essential. The typical HNLDD however, with a fuze assembly that includes a canister, a spoon, and a pull ring and safety pin, requires the use of two hands during deployment. This is further complicated by the fact that the devices are typically carried by tactical personnel in pouches much like munitions or other accessory pouches. One example of a carry pouch is the Flashbang Pouch available from Blackwater Gear™ of Oregon City, OR, which holds one flashbang device on a duty belt (another example of a carry pouch is the Duty Single Flash Bang Pouch, available from Blackhawk Industries, Inc. of Norfolk, Virginia (Blackhawk)). The Flash Bang Pouch also may be used in combination with other munition carry devices, for example, the Omega® Shot Shell (10) Flashbang (2) Pouch, available from Blackhawk, which is configured to hold two flashbangs in each of two flash bang pouches along with ten shot shells in a single pull down pouch. Therefore, an individual deploying an HNLDD most use both hands to unbuckle the carry pouch, and is required to deploy the device by pulling the HNLDD from the pouch by the fuze head. As handling of HNLDDs by the fuze head is not recommended by manufacturers of HNLDDs, deployment of HNLDDs from typical carry pouches is inherently unsafe because it requires handling the device in a manner not recommended by HNLDD manufacturers.
The danger inherent in deployment of HNLDDs from conventional carry pouches is further increased for tactical personnel like law enforcement and military personnel that are frequently in situations where they only have one hand available for use during situations in which they must deploy HNLDDs. One example of a tactical deployment situation involves law enforcement personnel that must control a weapon or other tactical equipment (e.g., radio, flash light, etc.) with one hand while deploying an HNLDD with the other hand. As a result, the law enforcement officer is faced with a choice of not using the HNLDD or being forced to re-holster or otherwise safe a deployed weapon in order to use the HNLDD. Consequently, there is a need for a device or system that allows for single-hand deployment of HNLDDs.
Improper handling of an HNLDD can result in traumatic injuries when the device makes direct contact with a human (e.g., personnel deploying the device, suspect, etc.) at the moment of deflagration. Improper handling of the device often results from improper handling of the HNLDD by an operator preparing to deploy the device. Examples of improper handling include improper placement of the device in the hand of the deploying personnel at the moment deployment is initiated, improper control of the spoon of an unpinned device by partially opening and closing the hand and/or passing the device from one hand to another, and trying to re-pin a device that was previously readied for deployment and then not deployed.
Improper handling can result, for example, when an operator attempts deployment of an HNLDD while also handling a weapon with one hand. In addition to managing a weapon, tactical personnel must be cognizant of the deployment area because the landing area of an HNLDD may contain objects like broken glass, gravel, and/or nails that are turned into projectiles by deflagration of the HNLDD. Further, the deployment area may include carpet, paper, dry grass, and/or drugs or drug byproducts that increase the probability of secondary fire or explosion as a result of HNLDD deflagration. The tactical personnel must also be aware of innocent people in the deployment area that could be injured by the HNLDD. This high level of awareness in the deployment area required of the tactical personnel further increases the chances for mishandling of an HNLDD during deployment. Consequently, there is a need to reduce or eliminate improper deployment and handling of HNLDDs because it is desirable that these devices be carried and deployed in a manner that is safe for use by tactical personnel and which causes minimal or no permanent damage to the persons against whom the devices are used or who are otherwise in/near a deployment area.